Hinata's Strength

Lu Yu teased Hinata for a while longer, until the little girl's face was bright red with embarrassment and she looked ready to faint. Only then did he stop.

"Okay, Hinata! Let's start training! Trust me, today you'll definitely be able to perform the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

At Lu Yu's words, the bashful expression on Hinata's face quickly disappeared. She turned to him with a serious look.

"Yes, Lu Yu!"

Seeing the intense fighting spirit in Hinata's eyes, Lu Yu nodded to himself.

Young people should have something to strive for. After all, pursuing strength was a pretty good goal.

Unlike him, who seemed to have nothing left to strive for...

Four years ago, as soon as Naruto had learned to use Shadow Clone proficiently, Lu Yu had transformed into Hinata and gone to class in her place.

As for the well-behaved Hinata, under Lu Yu's influence, she had inevitably gone astray.

Over the past four years, they had spent every day together, and Hinata's heart was full of Lu Yu. The little girl didn't understand romance at all; she only knew that whenever she couldn't see Lu Yu for a while, she felt terribly uneasy.

Whenever something she did earned Lu Yu's approval, her heart felt as sweet as honey.

Because of this, Hinata put her whole heart into everything Lu Yu asked of her, and her strength had skyrocketed as a result.

One moment Hinata was acting like a shy little girl; the next, Lu Yu said it was time to train, and she immediately got into the zone.

Lu Yu was sure that if Hinata fought Hanabi now, she would leave her sister questioning everything.

Lu Yu led Hinata into the woods and looked at her with satisfaction.

"Hinata, attack with all your strength. Don't hold back!"

"Okay, Lu Yu! Byakugan!"

In an instant, Hinata activated her Byakugan, raised her hands, and assumed the opening stance of the Gentle Fist. She looked at Lu Yu.

"Lu Yu, be careful!"

Whoosh—

As soon as she spoke, Hinata shot toward Lu Yu at incredible speed. She was nearly twice as fast as she had been when they first fought.

The next moment, Lu Yu and Hinata clashed. Hinata's attacks were fierce, and every palm strike sent a gust of wind rushing through the air.

Lu Yu calmly blocked her attacks, neither dodging nor counterattacking. His only goal now was to help Hinata break through to the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

As the Hyuga Clan's princess, Hinata's talent was unquestionably top-tier. The only reason she had seemed so average before was her personality.

After Hinata had attacked for a while, Lu Yu deliberately left an opening and stepped back half a pace, giving her the perfect distance to attack.

"Now!"

Hinata seized the opening with perfect timing and struck a pose. A trigram pattern appeared beneath her feet, and she immediately charged at Lu Yu.

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Two Palms!"

"Four Palms!"

"Eight Palms!"

"Sixteen Palms!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

Hinata's hands blurred as she rapidly struck at the chakra points all over Lu Yu's body. Her assault was so fierce it dazzled the eye.

In just a moment, she had unleashed thirty-two lightning-fast palm strikes.

Yet Lu Yu remained calm and composed, blocking every single one of Hinata's strikes perfectly.

At that moment, a hint of competitiveness flashed in Hinata's eyes. The chakra circulating through her body sped up, and her strikes grew faster.

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

Seeing Hinata unleash an even denser flurry of attacks, Lu Yu hesitated for a moment. This time, instead of blocking, he raised both arms to protect himself.

Thud, thud, thud, thud...

The next moment, Hinata's attacks landed on Lu Yu's arms in a sudden flurry.

Lu Yu was knocked backward, sliding across the ground.

Once he regained his footing, he smiled at Hinata.

"Congratulations, Hinata! You did it. I'm no match for you now."

Hinata's pretty face lit up with joy. She covered her mouth as she smiled at Lu Yu.

"Lu Yu, you were obviously going easy on me, but I still have to thank you. I don't think I could have reached this level without you."

Lu Yu shook his head, walked over to Hinata, and gently ruffled her hair. Then he said seriously,

"Silly girl, you're incredibly talented. The strength you've reached today is mostly thanks to your hard work over the years, so... have a little more confidence in yourself."

Looking at Lu Yu's earnest expression, Hinata blushed and nodded, softly murmuring, "Mm."

Seeing her like that, Lu Yu smiled faintly.

"Okay, while you're in the zone, keep practicing. I'm going to rest for a bit."

Seeing Hinata break through her bottleneck made sleepiness wash over Lu Yu, and his lazy nature came out in full force.

Honestly, Hinata was the only one he could bring himself to spar with. There was no way he would get off his lounge chair for anyone else.

"Okay, Lu Yu. I'll keep working hard."

Hinata nodded at Lu Yu as he walked away, her eyes full of admiration.

Just how strong was this man?

For four years, no matter how hard Hinata trained, she had never felt she could catch up to Lu Yu.

And as for knocking Lu Yu back with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms just now?

Don't be ridiculous. Hinata knew perfectly well that Lu Yu had done it on purpose to encourage her.

Lu Yu said goodbye to Hinata and soon returned to his base. He glanced at the five-meter-long little boat he had built not long ago, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"What a colorful life a slacker can have. I think I'll go enjoy the breeze on the lake this afternoon..."